Egypt's parliament has reconvened in an open challenge to the generals who dissolved the assembly last month, escalating tensions with the military just 10 days into Mohamed Morsi's presidency.

Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni, who like Morsi hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, which has the biggest bloc in parliament, opened the session with a speech aired live on state television on Tuesday. "We are gathered today to review the court rulings, the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," which ordered the court invalid, Katatni said.

"I want to stress, we are not contradicting the ruling, but looking at a mechanism for the implementation of the ruling of the respected court. There is no other agenda today," he added.

The lawmakers then approved by a show of hand el-Katatni's proposal that the house seek legal advice from a high appeals court on how to implement the supreme court's ruling. He then adjourned the session, which lasted about five minutes. He said he would advise lawmakers in due course of the date of the next session.